I really need to keep myself on a schedule. I was up really late last nigh getting this finished for you guys. So if I miss anything, I apologize.


Sophie sighed. Sign language was a lot harder than it looked. She and Keefe were trying to be able to communicate without telepathy and so far it wasn't going well. It didn't help that Amy's school let out a week after Foxfire did, so she wasn't available until that afternoon, if at all, depending on time zones and homework.

Keefe gave her a thumbs-down, his sign-language equivalent of grumbling.

"Yeah, I know, it's not going great. Do you want to watch something instead?"

He signed 'cat' and 'ladybug' then grinned at her.

"No, we're not watching Miraculous again. That's all you've wanted to watch for a week. It's probably almost out of episodes."

Keefe pouted. He scanned the shelves and sighed 'water' 'earth' 'fire' 'air' in quick succession.

"Avatar: The Last Airbender?"

Thumbs up.

"Maybe. Ro wanted to watch that one with us, so maybe wait until she gets back in a few hours? Anything else?"

He sighed 'ladybug' again and Sophie groaned. "Is there anything else, anything at all, you want to watch other than that show?"

Thumbs down.

"Anything you'd rather do?"

Keefe pointed to his head and she formed a telepathic connection.

I forgot the signs we came up with for Dex and Biana's names. But you said they're in love and need a little push, didn't you?

"Yeah…"

I'd be happy with figuring out how to do that instead of watching Miraculous. It's getting kind of repetitive anyway. Person gets mad, Hawkmoth akumatizes person, person goes on rampage, Ladybug and Cat Noir show up and save the day while flirting and making stupid puns, Adrien and Marionette stay totally oblivious to each other's crushes and secret identities for the entire episode. That's about it.

Sophie laughed. "So, got any ideas?"

Of course I do. I've been sitting her for six freaking months with nothing but my own brain and human stuff to keep me entertained. I've got plenty of ideas, getting increasingly as time passed strange to cope with my stupid brain. But I have plenty of normal ones too.

"What were you thinking?"

Well, since exams were postponed until after the break for who-knows-what reason, there's totally the option of a neat gift. What does Biana like?

"I like the idea. I'll ask her later today. Biana invited me over to Everglen later today. I think she just wants to grill me about Saturday."

Sooo…what did happen Saturday?

"Not you too. But I guess you can't really tell anyone and by the time you can it won't matter. Nothing big happened, but it was a step forward. I definitely think there is a second date in the future."

Fitzy didn't mess it all up? Great! No kiss yet?

"No, no kiss yet. But I will let you know when that happens."

Great. So, Dex and Biana. Is there any chance you could get the Council to send them on a mission with just them? With the required escort of course, but you know what I mean.

Sophie grinned. "Maybe. We're strictly advisory right now, but maybe as a diplomacy practice thing with the goblins or something. I'll pass the idea on to Oralie and Bronte."

Hey how did that thing with Oralie go like a year ago that you refuse to talk about? Somehow everyone knows but me.

She rolled her eyes. "She opened the wrong Forgotten Secret! The password she had was for something different and she couldn't figure out the password for the one she wanted to open. So in the end all she did was waste my time and hers. She's super embarrassed about it now."

Huh. Biana likes necklaces, right?

"Not as much as you'd think. Since we're in Level Five and all the boys have eyes now, she gets a lot of random gifts, almost all jewelry. If he got her something personalized or that clearly had thought put into it, she would absolutely love it, but she's not really into jewelry right now. I know she likes flowers."

Hey! What are those little tiny bouquets that you can stick on stuff as decoration or girls tie on their wrists? I have no idea what they're called.

"Are you talking about a corsage?"

I have no idea. But something less clunky than a full bouquet that still has the same meaning.

"I think you are. I think that'd be an awesome idea, especially using human flowers, so she knows it's from someone who cares."

Why don't you hail Dex now and see if he has time to come over? It's pretty close to noon and not a school day.

Sophie grinned. "I think I will. He might be stuck cleaning his room again though. Juline told me he squirrels himself away for hours, trying to build something that'll help you be able to communicate. He apparently just leaves the mess there when he storms off to blow off steam after another idea doesn't work."

That's super nice of him, but I honestly don't think he'll be able to make something work. That is just partly because I don't want to get my hopes up just to find out it's not going to happen, but if Dex can make something that would allow me to live relatively pain-free, that'd be amazing. I've gotten better at dealing with it, so the bad days aren't so bad, but there's always a new low. So you can only get so good at dealing with the pain.

Sophie resisted the urge to rub his arm. "But you are doing amazing. The fact that you're awake at all is incredible. Although, you're not looking so good right now." She noticed the creases of pain forming on his face. "Is it getting worse?"

Yes. Just give me a second. He closed his eyes, letting out a small whimper. Remember what I said about new lows? I think I just found one.

"Do you want me to leave you alone so you can rest?"

No, please don't. Hail Dex and do whatever you wanted to do, but I don't think I'll be able to participate. I don't think I can open my eyes at the moment, much less sign anything. Even my thoughts are hurting a little.

"Okay. You don't have to say anything else if you don't think you can."

He didn't answer. Sophie sighed and reached for her Imparter, leaving a tentative connection in case he said anything.

"Show me Dex Dizznee."

Dex didn't immediately answer, but when he did, there was a few tiny screws in his hair and what looked like machine grease smeared across his cheek. "Oh hey Sophie. I was wondering where my Imparter ended up. Thanks for helping me find it."

"No problem. Working again?"

"Yeah. I've kind of given up on a pain relieving device, so I'm working on mobility. If Tam is able to do the weird shadow thingy to make moving his hands pain-free for Keefe, I think I have a little remote control robot figured out that should help him get stuff and give him a little more independence."

"Cool. Hey, are you free right now? Like not working on anything that has a time constraint?"

His brow furrowed. "No, nothing I can't drop right now. Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no, Keefe's about as fine as he can be. It's about something else."

"Okay! Give me a few minutes to clean up. Do I have screws in my hair?"

Sophie giggled. "Yeah, you do."

"Great. Well, I'll be over in a few minutes, hopefully without random components stuck to me."

He ended the call and Sophie put her Imparter in her pocket, glancing over at Keefe. She sighed when she saw how tense he was and how hard it was for him to breathe. It broke her heart every time she was reminded of the pain that had become his normal, everything he had to endure just to exist.

"I don't know how you ever thought of yourself as weak." she whispered. "You've stronger than I could ever be."

Dex took a bit longer than she was expecting. He was still wiping the grease off his cheek as he walked in, but there were no screws or related items in his hair.

"How's he doing?"

"Not great." Sophie sighed, standing up and giving Dex a hug. "He's really weak though. And it feels like a couple hundred years get shaved off my life expectancy every time he doesn't respond."

"Huh?"

"It's a human expression."

"So what's up? You said it wasn't serious, which is great, but…"

"Keefe had an idea and I want to know what you think about it. If you don't want to talk about it, feel free to tell me to shut up."

Dex raised an eyebrow and frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Sophie bit her lip. "So, I may have mentioned to Keefe you like Biana and he's been coming up with ideas. I totally get if you want to talk about something else, but he had an idea that would work."

To her surprise, Dex nodded. "Keep talking."

"You know those tiny little bouquets? I'm pretty sure they're called corsages, but Keefe has no idea. In the human world, during Victorian times, young men and women used flowers to communicate secretly without getting caught. Different flowers, colours of flowers, and arrangements all meant different things."

He grinned. "I think I know where you're going with this."

"I know Biana likes flowers. I've mentioned the language of flowers thing to her before and she thinks it would be really romantic."

Dex grinned even wider. "Our lockers are pretty close together. I could leave a small something, maybe three or four flowers, just enough to mean something without being clunky to carry around. But I have no idea what type of flowers to do, or what they mean. I want it to be sweet, but not too forward."

Sophie chewed her lip. "Do you have a pad and paper? I can write some down for you that I think you'll like."

He nodded and produced a well-used notebook and pencil from a hidden pocket.

"You chew on your pencils?"

Dex blushed. "It's a bit of a nervous habit when I forget something. My mom does it too."

"I used to do it all the time when I was younger. And then it snapped in half in my mouth and I had to go to the urgent care because there were wood shards and graphite stuck in my tongue and gums and my parents couldn't get them out. I never stuck a pencil in my mouth again. Apparently, that was why my school implemented the rule that you were not allowed to chew on pencils." Sophie scribbled down a few of her favorites.

"Wow. How hard were you biting down?"

"Not very, or so I thought." She tapped the eraser end against her cheek, "The nurse couldn't stop laughing after she got all the stuff out of my mouth. She said she'd never seen anything like it before. I'll see if I can get pictures of these flowers or something like that, so you can pick ones that look good together."

"No, it's okay." Dex smiled when she handed him the list. "What would you recommend?"

Sophie pointed to the top line. "Amaryllis. You can't really go wrong with a flower that means 'splendid beauty' and they're gorgeous flowers by themselves. And possibly tulips, but you did say not too forward."

He nodded. "Those can wait. I was thinking three different ones. But thanks for the advice! I was trying to think of a little something I could leave at her locker when we go back to school and my mind was blanking. She'll love this."

"No problem. I should probably be heading home, I told Mom and Dad I'd be back about lunch to help out."

"Are you getting more new animals?"

"Getting rid of this time! The vermillions that came to us several mouths ago are finally leaving. I'm so tired of those little suckers. I'm glad they'll be gone. But you're right, we probably will obtain a few more imps, Iggy's getting kind of jealous of me taking care of some of the littler ones, I don't know where in the world anyone finds a random T-rex, but we seem to obtain them on a regular basis. We've even had a few moonlarks nest in the cliffs, which is awesome. I think they like swizzlespice even more than the alicorns do. How's life been for you?"

"So, so busy." Dex sighed and ran a hand through his hair, grumbling when a few small gears fell out. "These stupid things. I was looking for them yesterday!"

"How do gears and stuff even get in your hair?"

He blushed, leaning down to pick them up. "Sometimes I stay up too late one too many nights in a row and fall asleep on my projects. My hair can be a real mess and things just disappear into it. I usually spend a good hour before I take a shower combing through my hair to make sure I go everything out and there's still stuff in there most of the time. The triplets are surprisingly accommodating with all the stuff I do. Rex is as much a night owl as I am and we often remind each other to go to bed. He helps me out sometimes, even if that help is shoving me out of bed because we have to go to school and I stayed up until three in the morning the night before."

"You've got good siblings. I rely on Iggy to get me up most days. You have not heard a truly horrible noise until you've heard that little rat when his breakfast is late. Anything later than a minute and a half after when he thinks he should be fed and he won't shut up until I get up and feed him. So I've gotten pretty good at getting up and feeding him on time."

"Wow."

"Ro's on her way up, so we're okay to leave, at least once she gets upstairs. Keefe's a fountain of ideas when he's feeling okay, so if you need more, feel free to ask. And he's getting better at sign language."

"Awesome. Well, see you later. I have to go before Mom figures out I haven't cleaned my room. It gets really messy really fast since I just stuff things in corners, so I'm technically grounded until I actually clean it." Dex sighed, looking back over the list she'd given him.

Sophie shoved his shoulder lightly. "You head home then and don't get in too much trouble. I'm sure you could convince someone to help you out. I know Biana can be a neat freak."

"I wondering if that's actually advice, you just trying to get us together, which I appreciate in a weird way, or both."

"Both, sort of?"

The door opened and Ro stepped in. "Hey guys. If you need to head home, I'm here now. How's he doing?"

Sophie sighed. "He said he found a new low point and is in too much pain to talk even telepathically, so not great. I've been leaving him alone."

She nodded. "Okay. I can be quiet for him, or put on an audiobook or something that doesn't get too loud."

Dex nudged the door open wider for Sophie and both of them started walking to the vortinator.

"Do you think she likes me?"

"Biana?"

"Yeah."

Sophie bit her lip. Biana hadn't asked her to keep it a secret, but she probably should to some extent anyway. "Well, she definitely wouldn't be upset if you gave her something nice or started paying more attention to her. Whether Fitz appreciates someone paying such close attention to his sister and her responding in kind is another story, but I think I can keep him off your back if I have to."

"Thanks. See you Monday?"

"See you Monday. Bye!"


From now on, each chapter is going to be a snapshot into their lives at different points. It might jump around a bit, but I need to start wrapping this story up. As always, reviews will get a teaser from the next chapter! (Let me know if you don't want one.)

Shine brightly!

Ruby